Frustration TO THE MAX!!

I've had this picky eating pastel 08 female that went off feed in the beginning of May. She was in a rack with my other BPs and they pound their food every single week. So I figured it had to have just been her... not the husbandry. I took her to the vet and she was deemed perfectly healthy. Finally almost 3 months later, she started ferociously pounding ASFs again (she'd been on ASFs almost her whole life too btw). So since this past July 20, she has been growing and wrecking her prey.

Today on feeding day, she seems to be back to what she was doing before... Here's a picture...

[IMG]http://i326.photobucket.com/albums/k...3/CIMG1044.jpg[/IMG][IMG]http://i326.photobucket.com/albums/k...3/CIMG1045.jpg[/IMG]

Just like always, after prescenting and dropping the ASF in her tub, she is 100% alert and ready to rumble. She's breathing heavy and S curve in the neck... But nothing!! Literally nothing. She just follows it with her eyes wherever it moves...

What the heck does that mean? She seems like she wants to eat, but she just isn't striking. After her last time of being off feed, I would have thought there was going to be a bigger spread between her next lapse...

Thoughts??? (Please don't say 'move to smaller bin', 'add crumpled newspaper'... I've tried everything from many breeders' advice.) I'm more or less looking for some sort of explanation...

Thanks!

I think I've torn out a cumulative of a pound of hair because of this girl...

hmm have you tried cutting a little bit of the mice's nose or any part to make the mice bleed alitle i heard that this method works for ball pythons on strike

She ONLY strikes at live... sooo there's no way on God's green earth I'm going to cut its nose.... :tears:

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Originally Posted by tank4102

hmm have you tried cutting a little bit of the mice's nose or any part to make the mice bleed alitle

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Gosh, that sounds so cruel! :(

Have you tried giving her a hide? Its worth a shot if you haven't.

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Originally Posted by Spaniard

Have you tried giving her a hide? Its worth a shot if you haven't.

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Bingo! I've some that will only feed from their hides, like true ambush predators- especially with girls.

She's got a hide 100% of the time. I just took it off to get a better camera shot of what she does/looks like while she's doing her aggressive pose.

Any thoughts on what that means though? Why would a snake get into feeding mode, but not strike? She just sits there S curled and breathing heavy. It's almost like she just forgets that in order to eat, she's got to strike first... lol I don't know....

How ols is she? how much does she weight? maybe she just doesnt want to eat.

She's 13 months old and 1000g...

I would think she'd be ready to eat after her last fast... And I only feed her an appropriate sized ASF every week..

Hi,

How close were you when you were monitoring the feeding?

Just wondering if it might have spooked her slightly.

This might be completely counter productive but could you try offering her fresh killed and closing the tub as soon as you put it in?


dr del

The s position can be defensive or feeding pose. Even if she doesnt want to eat it she will still be defensive.

There are some female ball pythons that eat great to 900 or so grams then get finicky and go on and off feed intermitantly. Maybe its the finicky teenage years i dont know but it I have heard about it from several folks and had it happen to me as well. Now most of my girls dont do this but it seems to happen sometimes and around that size/age.

Sounds like you got one of those, just be patient, she will be fine, in her own time.

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Originally Posted by West Coast Jungle

Maybe its the finicky teenage years i dont know but it I have heard about it from several folks and had it happen to me as well.

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I'll second that - we've got two that hit the 1200 range and decided they were more concerned with their figures than building up to be good breeders. Every once in a while they'll pound a couple down, but for the most part they're content to refuse perfectly good mice.

Teenager phase.

If I were you, I would put her in a 15qt tub and leave her alone. Only try offering food in the dark every 2 weeks or so. Usually works for mine and they feed, even if it's sporadically. I have an '06 YB female who is all of 1200g maybe, but once moved back to the 15qt she has decided mice are good to eat again, and she eats them dead or alive.